Uneasy calm at Kumasi Academy following death of 4th student

There is uneasy calm at Kumasi Academy following the death of a fourth student of the school at the Ahenkro Community Hospital, near Offinso in the Ashanti Region, last Monday.

His body has been deposited at the St Patrick Hospital at Offinso awaiting autopsy on Friday.

The deceased was given an exeat three days before his demise after complaining of headache and body pains but never returned.

The other three who died within two weeks have their bodies deposited at the Tafo Trinity Hospital, the Jachie-Pramso Hospital and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Hospital.

The Assistant Headmaster (Academic) of the school, Mr Ernest Wiafe, told the Daily Graphic that the school was liaising with the Asokore Mampong Municipal Health Directorate to establish the cause of death from the autopsy report by Friday.

Population

Some of the students who left the school last Friday after the strange deaths have returned to school to prepare for end-of-term examinations that begin today, but it is unlikely the rest will return any time soon following the death of the fourth student.

The authorities said the examinations would go ahead while the school employed the services of psychologists from the Regional Education Office to put the students in the right frame of mind to write the papers.

Final-year students, meanwhile, were busy writing their examinations yesterday, while those who had no papers to write were seen in group discussions.

But it is worth noting that the number of students on the compound at the time the Daily Graphic visited was a far cry from the student population of almost 3,000.

Background

Last Friday’s incident was greeted with a spontaneous reaction by stone-throwing students, leading to the vandalisation of the school bus and a number of street lights.

News of the strange deaths spread across Kumasi, prompting panic, as parents stormed the school for their children. 

Subsequently, commotion ensued between the school’s security and the parents, who had insisted on taking their children home, without recourse to the headmaster.

The scuffle at the entrance of the school brought in the police to restore calm and prevail on the authorities to allow the parents to take their children home.

 

Mr Wiafe denied a claim that the deaths were as a result of food poisoning and urged the parents to remain calm until the autopsy report was made public next Friday.

There is uneasy calm at Kumasi Academy following the death of a fourth student of the school at the Ahenkro Community Hospital, near Offinso in the Ashanti Region, last Monday.

His body has been deposited at the St Patrick Hospital at Offinso awaiting autopsy on Friday.

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